Sea.Hear.Now festival headliners Bruce Springsteen and Noah Kahan made surprise appearances last night (Sept. 14) at the intimate Asbury Park, N.J., club the Stone Pony as part of the annual Ocean Ave. Stomp featuring Tangiers Blues Band. The latter includes Sea.Hear.Now co-founder and noted photographer Danny Clinch, whose joy in performing with longtime friend Springsteen was apparent throughout the late-night set.
Springsteen, who will play with the E Street Band at Sea.Hear.Now on the beach in Asbury Park tonight, sang on covers of Little Richard’s “Lucille,” John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom Boom,” Them’s “Gloria” and the Chuck Berry-popularized “Down the Road a Piece.” Kahan, who headlined Sea.Hear.Now last night, ran over to take the microphone on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
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The musicians were joined throughout by guitarist Robert Randolph, E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons, Grace Potter and local artist Rachel Ana Dobken. Other songs performed included the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right,” Neil Young’s “Motorcycle Mama” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.”
Springsteen, who has a decades-long working relationship with Clinch, has not played a full show in his adopted home base of Asbury since 2015, although he has appeared at several benefits and special events there since then. Watch clips from the Stone Pony jam below.
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